Review: Jackie

Title: Jackie

Author: Dawn Tripp

Publisher: 26th June 2024 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 496 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

In this mesmerizing novel about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, acclaimed author Dawn Tripp has crafted an intimate story of love and power, family and tragedy, loss and reinvention.

The world has divided my life into three:

Life with Jack

Life with Onassis

Life as a woman who goes to work because she wants to.

My life is all of these things, and it is none of these things. They continue to miss what’s right in front of them. I love books. I love the sea. I love horses. Children. Art. Ideas. History. Beauty. Because beauty blows us open to wonder.

Even the beauty that breaks your heart.

Jackie is the story of a woman—deeply private with a nuanced, formidable intellect—who forged a legacy out of grief and shaped history even as she was living it. It is the story of a love affair, a complicated marriage, and the fracturing of identity that comes in the wake of unthinkable violence.

When Jackie meets the charismatic congressman Jack Kennedy in Georgetown, she is twenty-one and dreaming of France. She has won an internship at Vogue. Kennedy, she thinks, is not her kind of adventure: “Too American. Too good-looking. Too boy.” Yet she is drawn to his mind, his humor, his drive. The chemistry between them ignites. During the White House years, the love between two independent people deepens. Then, a motorcade in Dallas: “Three and a half seconds—that’s all it was—a slivered instant between the first shot, which missed the car, and the second, which did not. . . . A hypnotic burst of sunlight off her bracelet as she waved.”

This vivid, exquisitely written novel is at once a captivating work of the imagination and a window into the world of a woman who led many lives: Jackie, Jacks, Jacqueline, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy, Jackie O.

My Thoughts

‘When they tell the story of a woman, they never get right up against what she might have felt and thought and seen and feared and wondered.’

Jackie by Dawn Tripp is a powerful book - to have boldly taken something that so many are so familiar with and present it in a new and highly engaging way is quite a feat. I think the above quote sums up beautifully what Dawn has tried to do here with the story of one of the most famous females of the twentieth century - what did Jackie feel? Think? See? Fear? Wonder? Through reading this book I now appreciate how Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis projected a myriad of selves to the world but was seemingly  a very private person who saw, felt, feared and wondered about a great many things. 

‘… the deeper sacrifice, I’ve come to realize, is about power and the accommodations a woman is called on to make. To shrink enough, to be small enough, to fit into the corners of a man’s world, to file down her own edges to be the kind of wife he’ll need, that he and others expect her to be.’

This book takes a look at the courtship, romance and marriage of Jackie to JFK (some time is dedicated to Onassis but only to highlight the impact of that relationship in adding to the incredible life and experiences she witnessed). Dawn Tripp takes everything you think you know about - not only Jackie and Jack, not only American politics of the day and not only that fateful day in Dallas - and reconstructs events in a way that dives deep and, for me, has certainly reshaped my own thoughts and understanding of how things seemingly played out.

‘Why marvel if a woman at a certain point tears off the veils that cover her like a monument - a thirty-nine-year-old monument, still beautiful, extremely alive, obligated to a role that does not belong to her?’

So well researched, this book reads more like a memoir as it takes you through the life that was Jackie. Written in her voice proved a most powerful tool in placing readers front and centre with all the feels of what Jackie experienced. I believe not only will  the stunning sepia cover draw you in but the little snippets of Jack’s opinion on a few rare chapters and the overall incredible piece of history will deeply immerse you and make you a part of one woman’s extraordinary life. 

‘We imagine time will clarify our intention. Who we were, how we lived, what we achieved. We want to believe we will be treated with integrity, with fairness and compassion. But history is not so forgiving, is it?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: A Novel Love Story

Title: A Novel Love Story

Author: Ashley Poston

Publisher: 3rd July 2023 by HQ Fiction

Pages: 357 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Romance | Romantic Comedy

Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Have you ever found yourself lost in a good book … literally? 

Eileen Merriweather loves a good love story. The fictional kind, anyway. After all, imaginary men don’t break your heart.

That’s why she’s so excited for her annual book club retreat – instead, when her car breaks down en route, Eileen finds herself in Eloraton. A town where every meet is cute, the rain always comes in the afternoon, and the bookshop is always curated with impeccable taste.

It feels too good to be true … because Eloraton is the setting of her favourite romance series. And Eileen is sure she must be here to bring the town its storybook ending.

But there’s one character she can’t place. The grumpy bookshop owner with mint-green eyes, and an irritatingly sexy mouth. He does not want Eileen to finish this story, but how else can she find her happily-ever-after?

My Thoughts

‘These books were like arms I fell into, armour that protected me from the world when life got too hard.’

Ashley Poston is back with her third magical realism, modern romance story and I could not be happier! This book has been highly anticipated and her followers are sure to enjoy this one.I believe it is the pure creativity that Ashley brings to her romance writing that makes it such a unique and engaging reading experience. The writing is heartfelt and I was thoroughly invested with the storyline from the outset. I loved the short, sharp chapters and even the good old fashion chapter headings that give you clues as to what will be upcoming. I would flick back and give that knowing nod upon completion. Brilliant. Not to mention, the wonderful love of all things literature scattered throughout. Equally heartwarming and heartbreaking with the use of the magical realism being so ‘magical’ and ‘real’ that Ashley makes it look so easy. 

This story is a love letter to book lovers everywhere as it is filled with so many beautiful quotes highlighting the great passion we all have towards literature. A heartbroken girl finds herself stranded in her favourite fictional town (think Brigadoon). Elsy will meet all her favourite characters and a certain bookshop owner who must be a forthcoming character. Or is he?

Books by Ashley Poston get me so excited because I know it will be infused with so much magic that her writing is bound to sweep you away. So allow yourself to get swept away in this witty, whimsical tale filled with pure refreshing escapism. 

’I think that’s why I love these books so much … to show me that there were still happy endings to be found … even if they weren’t mine.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The King’s Mother

Title: The King’s Mother

Author: Annie Garthwaite

Publisher: 11th July 2024 by Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, 

Pages: 384 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Women's Fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

1461. Through blood and battle Edward has gained England’s throne – king by right and conquest – eighteen years old and unstoppable. Cecily has piloted his rise to power and stands at his shoulder now, first to claim the title King’s Mother.

But to win a throne is not to keep it and war is come again. As brother betrays brother, and trusted cousins turn treacherous, other mothers rise up to fight for other sons. Cecily must focus her will to defeat every challenge. Wherever they come from. Whatever the cost.

For there can be only one King, and only one King’s Mother.

From the Wars of the Roses to the dawn of the Tudor age, this is a story of mothers and sons; of maternal ferocity and female ambition - of all they can build and all they can destroy.

My Thoughts

Let me state from the outset, I am a history nerd and this book sent me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. My favourite type of book to read and I could not ask for anything more! I first read Annie’s book, Cecily, three years ago and gave it five stars. It was epic! There is historical fiction and then there was Cecily. WOW! This was purist historical fiction at its best -  one of those rare and memorable tales that gives voice to someone I had barely heard of but would now forever remember. Set at the conclusion of the Hundred Years War between England and France, and moving to the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, the first book focused on the life of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of King Edward IV and Richard III and a force within her own right. 

‘Cecily the King’s Mother, a title no woman in England has assumed before.’

The King’s Mother is her follow up covering the period of ‘the Wars of the Roses to the dawn of the Tudor age, this is a story of mothers and sons; of maternal ferocity and female ambition - of all they can build and all they can destroy.’ Yup! That about sums it up. I do recommend you read Cecily first as this book picks up right where that one ended with her son Edward on the throne (Cecily is still the main narrator).

‘And so, though she kneels at His altar, Cecily doesn’t so much pray to God as stare him down. Don’t you dare, she says in her heart … say nothing.’

Annie effortlessly regales a complicated time in English history, however, by telling the story through the perspective of Cecily as the ‘King’s Mother’, makes it vivid and compelling. To witness her interactions through her sons and other characters such as Margaret Beaufort is mind blowing. Despite of course knowing how history ends, the magic of Annie’s writing keeps readers on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the conclusion. Think on how history presents certain events and people …. and then think again. Think of the negative light in which Richard III is portrayed and then think again. Think of the legend of the Princes in the Tower and then think again. Outstanding historical fiction. 

‘Tomorrow she might be King’s Mother again. Or just another broken woman, with her children dead at her feet.’

One cannot help but be impressed with the depth and breadth of her research and then the very fitting interpretations. To craft a story that reads so well for today’s audience is impressive. I thank Penguin Publishers UK for reaching out once more and offering this follow up book. If epic historical fiction is your thing, be sure not to miss Annie Garthwaite's incredible series.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.